Column:
Beliefs a study guide for life
Published Jan. 23, 2009
When it seems like things can't get any worse, people cling to and reveal the most foundational of their beliefs.
First, there were the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and soon after, Hurricane Katrina. Then everyone decided to hate the president. And more recently, the stock market and economy became depressed, overdosed on sleeping pills, and nearly committed group suicide. Rarely has there been a worse time in history to spend money you don't have by going into student loan debt, maybe graduating, then hoping for a job that might not exist.
So, now is the popular time for people start praying because, well, there's really nothing else they can do.
It seems that, when disaster or dilemma strike, people show their true colors. Whether they are selfish or selfless, atheist or believer, at some point it will come out during times when common luxuries that sometimes define people are stripped. Not to say that the entire country has lost every common luxury, but the unfortunate few who have been victims of recent events have served as a learning experience. For the unlucky few that have shoddy morals and beliefs to fall back on, perhaps a little religious awakening would help remedy the situation.
I am by no means trying to campaign or recruit members to come to some church I support, but picking something to believe in makes more sense than viewing life as a random collection of mass chaos, with no purpose or meaning. Even if chaos truly was the case, we'd all be better off with mistaken religious beliefs than none at all.
Selflessness, belief in a greater being, and opposition to violence are common beliefs of every major, legitimate, non-extremist, non-cult world religion. Regardless of the politics and details within, those three major ideals are unarguably good from any reasonable moral standpoint. At the same time, others outside the religious circle tend to readily criticize the open religious beliefs of others. But why?
Why do they want people to stop believing? What happens if they stop? Does the person who convinced them get some kind of sick psychological benefit by tearing apart others' belief systems? It's one thing to try and convince everyone else of what you believe in, but it's more useless persuade them of what you don't believe in.
You're better off believing in something than nothing. That is a fact due to very simple reasoning. If you go your whole life denying the existence of any sort of god, what is your reward when you die if you were right? Not a damn thing. But what is your punishment if you were wrong? Probably eternal suffering, or something else that will certainly suck.
On the other hand, if you go your whole life accepting and embracing the existence of some god, what is your reward when you die if you were right? Eternal happiness. And what is your punishment if you were wrong? Nothing.
If you can't figure out which path makes more sense, it's a wonder you can read this sentence.
It might be tough to try and convince yourself of something that you don't believe in just because it makes sense to try, but you'd might as well. It's not like anything bad can come out of the effort, because things tend to make sense when you search for a higher meaning.
Life is like a tough general education class that has nothing to do with your major: confusing, seemingly pointless and probably a lot harder than you thought it would be.
It sure helps to have a study guide.
